I stopped at the Riverview Bar on the way home. I ordered a beer and began to think on what type of action I should take. I figured that I needed to d...o some more research and get some evidence. I needed to know what the divorce laws were in my state. I'll need to get a recording device and some film for my camera.I was daydreaming about our past and how this could have happened. (What did I do that caused her to look to other men? I could not think of a damn thing. I was always there for her.. ..It came back to Shawna, really. It wasn't that it wasn't good. She wouldn't want to be anywhere else, but ... Marcus just didn't look at her the way he did at Shawna. It was understandable, she knew. She didn't look at herself the way she looked at Shawna, but it still hurt."You OK?"Marcus' quiet voice cut in from the door where he leant up against the wooden surround, ankles and arms crossed."Yeah, why?"She stared at him in the mirror for a moment, feeling the slight quickening of her pulse. Gaps. It’s occupied my entire life. With your permission,” her voice lowered. “I’d like that work to continue.”“Of course. But you don’t have to ask ⁠—”“But I do,” she said forcefully. I looked up at her. “We’re no longer family. We are your crew. You have the responsibility of life or death over us. Do you understand?”I nodded slowly, and she gentled her tone.“An AI isn’t human; Ship doesn’t share our values or perspective. Once it’s made a gene selection, it largely ignores us. It’s your job. ‘But I’m cute.’ Another amused noise from off our little stage. Rain on her windows and distant thunder. What else is there to say? The front room is much like the girl. Or maybe it’s the other way round. A comfortable collection of things pulled out of pockets and mailboxes, empty glasses, thirdhand furniture and cathair. She has a cat. I now know three things about this pixie who’s taken me in, and (as another sign of my daze) the cat is the most comforting piece of information. She takes in.